Help! Struggling with unhappy baby (6wo) tips/experience/advice?

[Geo0905]

Hi,

Im struggling to cope atm with a teething 2.5 year old and a very unhappy 6wo at home on my own with very little support. My baby is basically very unhappy and uncomfortable when they’re awake, just crying, squirming, grunting , farting. She only wants to be held (not in a sling) but holding her doesn’t stop the crying, it takes ages to settle her until she falls asleep again. I dread her waking up because it’s just crying until she eventually sleeps again. My other daughter was similar and had a cows milk allergy (I’m breastfeeding so I’ve cut it out along with soy too)

I basically feel like a failure of a parent and just want to hear someone else tell me they’ve been through it - all I hear about is how other peoples babies are happy and content and sleep well, where as both of mine have been extremely uncomfortable and unhappy.

I have a fast flow and oversupply of milk and that can make breastfeeding hard. I’ve been using colief drops but not sure how much they help.

her poos are mucousy and slimey and l can be HUGE (like half a cup of foamy poo in one go!) I want to continue breastfeeding but also feel as though my milk could be the problem , I just feel at a loss of what to do now.

. I don’t drive and we live on the top of a massive hill where the nearest bus is a 15 minute walk, so getting out it hard. My toddler has basically been sat infront of the tv for two days whilst I have spent all day settling the baby.

any advice or experience is appreciated! I feel like I’m doing everything I can to get by.

Speak to your HV and GP, definitely sounds like an allergy of some sort, or reflux.

@ hi sorry to read this, no advice but this sounds similar to my baby and she's 9wks old
I'm exhausted, fed up and just want her to settle

I have contacted my GP, HV and have been referred to a dietitian in a few weeks time.

I too hate that I know people that have settled babies ! It's really getting me down. Happy to talk if you need anything.

Do you have a partner ? X

Probiotic drops, Infacol and Osteopath appointments are some of the things I did with my very fussy son, now 11 weeks old. I think the osteopath helped the most, as well as time passing -- babies' digestive tracts need time to mature

Also doing some massage on their tummy -- look online to find videos of how to keep digestion moving. And burping is an absolute must for my son.

Does she have a dummy?

I had a big oversupply of milk and getting a dummy really helped my LO.

Before the dummy, he wanted to suckle all the time, but was already full of milk, so would either scream and pull away then cry, or stuff himself to the point of discomfort and then cry.

With the dummy, he distinguishes between hunger and comfort. Takes the dummy and sucks if he is full, eats if he is hungry. He's 3 months now and the dummy is still helpful.

Before we got the dummy, he would also suck my little finger to soothe, which was better than nothing, but a faff as both hands were full of baby. Took us a few goes to find a dummy he likes, but it as a game changer when we did.

Really make sure each breast is empty before switching. I forgot this with my second, and had a very unsettled baby and explosive foamy poos. He would want to feed so much but I ended up keeping to one breast and only swapping after 2 hours. This helped loads.

Also if you’re still taking maternity vitamins please try stopping them. I think it’s the iron in them, but my 1st and 2nd became very gassy and unsettled with them. It really helped when I stopped!

My 1st had cmpa but my 2nd seems ok now. He’s 15 weeks. Once he hit about 10 weeks he really calmed down.

Thankyou all for your messages so far and helpful advice! Particularly the people who are going through/gone through similar situations- it really helps to hear other people got through it , I know it will pass eventually, just going out my mind trying to figure out how to help. Today she was more settled and I was very on it with burping her and breast positioning but also noticed she has a top lip tie which could be causing her latch to be weak and her intaking more air.

I spoke to a GP yesterday and was fobbed off with ‘it’s reflux, come back in a couple of months if it’s not got better naturally’

@PregnantAgainOhMy ive only just started offering both breasts at a feed actually as my flow is so fast she feeds very quickly, a feed rarely reaches 10 minutes (my daughter was always the same) but I noticed when she pulls off and bobs her head and becomes distressed she wants the other boob! I take iron as I’m low but not regularly at the moment as I forget but I’ll keep an eye on it! Thanks

@FrizzledFrazzle yes, we use a dummy in the same way! Really helps to sooth her!

@Endlesslaundry123 got some probiotics I’m going to try from tomorrow - she does have smelly gas so I have considered a bacteria imbalance in her gut, I don’t have the best gut health either so it would make sense in that way! I’ll look into an osteopath, what exactly did they do?

@sweeetchops sorry to hear your dealing with similar things, it’s so hard isn’t it ! Really hope the dietician can shed some light on it for you, I started following two really interesting accounts on Instagram -babyrefluxlady and carolsmythibclccbt - they talk a lot about the science around reflux and other issues! I am lucky to have a partner who helps lots but he’s at work all day!

@Geo0905 the Osteopath helps relieve any tension in baby's body that might have been caused by birth, fetal position etc. I noticed a huge difference in my son after the first appointment -- big smiles from him like I'd never seen. My mother in law went to an osteopath for a neck injury and said although it felt like he was barely doing anything, by the end of the appointment she could move her head again (just as some confirmation from someone who can actually speak that osteopathy helps with pain).

Oh and my son was evaluated for a tongue tie and although it was deemed extremely small we got it divided and could instantly tell his latch was better.

@Endlesslaundry123 wow that sounds really positive ! I’ll definitely look into it - I’m finding it so so hard to pinpoint what might aggravate her fussiness , today she has seemed really settled and calm then at about 4/5pm she just flipped back to being uncomfortable and unhappy- I know she has lots of wind in her system , just wish I knew what was causing it !

@Geo0905 We have very similar issues my bubs is 9wks old

We have had 3 osteopath apps and they have by far made a huge difference

My bubs definitely suffers with digestive/wind
Issues so much she thrashes around the cot at night, so noisy

She also can have a settled day and then cry a lot come evening time so I feel your pain x